What if?
by millie-mione
Summary: What would have happened if someone had tipped the Potters off that they were betrayed and about to be killed? Characters all belong to J.K. Rowling's magical universe.


Celeste Pettigrew sat on her lounge sofa and patiently waited for her husband Peter to go out and perform 'special orders' for his master. Celeste and Peter always shared a marriage that was on good terms, but recently he had become so secretive and nervous snapping and juping about every time she either talked to him or touched him. This was why she didn't want to tell him that she was expecting a baby girl. Come to think of it,Celeste really noticed his odd behaviour this past Thursday when James and the gang visited to play games and have a few drinks. She noticed that Peter didn't make eye contact with anybody while they were there. She had just hoped that he wouldn't behave out of character with the Marauders by doing or saying something that he might later regret.  
  
Normally, she wasn't nosy about his 'affairs' as he had always called matters that he didn't want to share, but lately Peter got into the habit of receiving a mysterious visitor who came by at night. His voice was like ice, and she could feel an ominous vibe about him whenever he entered the house. Despite his eerie presence, she couldn't help but be curious about him. Peter always told her to mind her business, and that this man was important to their future. She walked from the kitchen to the study wall and leaned her head against the wall to listen in on what they were saying.  
  
"You have second thoughts about doing this for me , do you , Wormtail?," the man asked.  
  
"N-no,---master. That's not it," her husband answered.  
  
"You're a pitiful liar, Wormtail. Nevertheless, you've proven to be quite useful to me," the man said.  
  
" My lord,----w-what if they thwart you again as they did thrice before?" Peter asked.  
  
" You doubt my power, Wormtail?"the stranger asked.  
  
"N-no, master. It's just that ----,"Peter whined.  
  
"You feel guilty about betraying them seeing as how they made you their secret keeper," the man said wickedly.  
  
"Yes.NO!!! I mean n-no, my lord," Peter answered.  
  
"Oh, do stop, Peter. You've made your choice, and you can't take it back. It's too late. For now I suggest that you rethink your loyalties. I'll be at Godric Hollow at eight the day after tomorrow. Good day, Wormtail,"The man said and then left without even addressing her to say good-bye.  
  
She guessed that whatever Peter had gotten himself into had been quite bad. Not only for himself, but for James and his family. She left immediately after Peter did . She had to beat whoever that man was to the Potters' house. She guessed that since she overheard the Potters' location, that she would be able to locate the house too.  
  
She turned herself into a sparrow. She knew that she could get there faster flying than by walking. Plus, apparating could be a little risky ; because, Celeste grew up one town away from Godric's Hollow, and someone could possibly recognize her and let the man know that she'd visited the Potters and thwarted his plans if he'd gone fishing for information about what messed his plans up.  
  
She flew as fast as her wings could take her. When she reached the place, it was just as she thought. She could see it too since Peter unwittingly divulged the location to her as well as the man. She settled on the upper window sill where the baby's room was located. He looked just like a little angel. May God forgive her for what she was about to do. She apparated into the room and gently picked little Harry up and placed him into a satchel that she attached to herself.  
  
Celeste then took a piece of paper out and wrote a message down for James and Lily. She laid it down in the crib where Lily could find it, and apparated away from the house.  
  
She apparated into muggle London where she'd kept a post office box that she'd filled with money, just in case Peter ever decided to leave her. She had saved up enough to travel by air out of England. Celeste took a flight to Canada. Her grandparents left her a two-story cabin and some money. There was also a good wizarding academy nearby for little Harry to go to when he came of age.  
  
"Don't worry your head, my little precious. Nobody will hurt you whilst I am around. We're going to peace and safety," she said.   
  
The plane landed in Deep River, Ontario. It was more beautiful now than when she and her family had left it back in the mid seventies. Her father and mother were diplomatic officials in the magical world. Her mother was the ambassador to England, and her father, who was a native Englishman was ambassador to France. It wasn't until she was thirteen that she found out that her parents agreed to spend half their time in Canada and the rest of their time in England. She remembered how sad it made her to leave Canada. She begged to stay behind with her grand-parents , but her father told her that she belonged with them. They moved to a lovely townhouse in Shropshire. That was where she met Peter. he was a bungler with a good and gentle nature. She liked the way that he always followed her around like a stray little puppy. What happened to that shy boy who used to absorb her eveyr word as if it were water to a sponge? She started to cry, but stopped when Harry started to fuss. It was time to get to a store and buy her new charge some food.  
  
Meanwhile, back in England, Lily realized that baby Harry had slept a little longer than usual. She went pstairs to check up on him. When she saw the empty crib, she screamed.   
  
James got up and ran to her. He looked in the crib and grabbed the note which read," Don't worry. Baby Harry is fine." Then as a closing address it read, "P.S.--- You've been made. Get going if you know what's good for you. Lots of luck, C.P."  
  
"James. Oh ,James,who'd do such a thing. To take our baby and not tell us anything, it's just so wrong," Lily said crying.  
  
"That's not important. Right now, we have to get going. I'm guessing that whoever this C. P. person is, they are obviously trying to help us," James said.  
  
Lily exploded," WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE TRYING TO HELP US? SOMEONE'S GOT MY BABY, AND I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO; I WANT MY SON!!!!"  
  
James grabbed her and hugged her saying. " I feel the same, but we have to survive if we want to see him again.'  
  
Lily nodded in acknowledgement that James was right. She gathered their belongings and they headed out.  
  
A week later, Celeste had filed the necessary papers to change her and Harry's identities.The baby seemed to like her, but she wondered with a pang of guilt how Lily was coping with his absence, so she took a snapshot of Harry at a park and mailed it to Professor Dumbledore with an unaddressed letter saying that she couldn't divulge her location but that she wanted to let the Potters to know that Harry was safe and that she changed his name and hers.  
  
Professor Dumbledore informed the Potters about their son, and Lily had another outburst. She rounded on him telling him that he'd better get some fom of address or something from this person so that she could get her baby back, but he stood firmly against her telling her that he knew of no way to find the baby.  
  
She flopped into the chair in a tantrum-like fashion. She pushed everybody away who tried to comfort her. She wanted to feel her little baby against her and sing to him, feed him, and rock him gently to sleep.  
  
Celeste waited another nine months before she sent another letter. She took two snapshots, one of Harry walking, and another with him hugging her baby girl Annabelle.. This time Dumbledore begged her to divulge her location ; because, Lily had been uselessly apathetic without her baby.  
  
Celeste apologized for her refusal, but she offered to write more often to ease Lily's mind.  
  
Despite her letters of correspondence, Celeste's writing to Lily did nothing but depress her further. Lily felt like her son was behind a glass, and she couldn't reach him. Her baby was somewhere with this person probably calling her 'mum' or if it were a man 'dad' forgetting all about her and about James. Once she found this C.P., she'd let him or her have it. This person deserved whatever came to him or her.  
  
Celeste met a man named Darryl Hayden who she married a year later. He was a well-to-do muggle who worked in real estate. She and the kids wanted for nothing. They were contentedly happy.  
  
Fate answered Lily and James' prayers eight years later when Sirius decided to go to Canada for a vacation. He rented one of Darryl's cottages, and Darryl wound up liking him so much that he invited him to have dinner with his family.  
  
Darryl introduced the children, and when he laid eyes upon Harry his heart jumped for joy. His joy,however, turned to rage and disgust when he laid eyes on Celeste, who now called herself Alicia. He bided his time ; because, he didn't want to make a scene.  
  
Darryl forgot the champagne and went to a store to get some. Sirius offered to accompany him, but Darryl refused.  
  
"What the bloddy hell did you mean by kidnapping James and Lily's son? I mean. how could you just sneak into their house and take their baby?"He asked angrily.  
  
"I did it to keep him safe. He's happy as you can see. Peter divulged their whereabouts, and I knew that they were in even more danger than they were before. Can't you see? It was the only way to keep the boy alive."  
  
"Why didn't you come to us?"  
  
"My coming to you pobably would have lead that man to you. "  
  
" Does Harry know that you're not his mother? "  
  
"Yes. I've told him that they do work overseas, and that someday they'll come back to get him,"  
  
"Oh-----, so you plan to give him back. How nice to know. Well, the someday that his parents will come to collect him is going to be a lot sooner than you think. As soon as I get back to my lodge, I'll send an owl to them to let them know where you've been keeping their son all this time."  
  
"Hello, all. I'm back," Darryl announced.  
  
When dinner started, Sirius announced that he didn't want to cause an upset, but that he was a friend of Harry's real parents who were coming to Canada in a few days to bring Harry back to England to live with them. There was no way that he was going to let Celeste get away with what she had done.  
  
Sirius did as he promised, and within the next two days, James and Lily appeared at her address with other members of the order. Everybody looked as if they were ready to skin her alive. Lily stepped forward to confront Celeste.  
  
"Where's Harry?!!!!!!"Lily asked enraged and ready to atack Celeste.  
  
"Henry is upstairs with my daughter Annabelle," Celeste answered.  
  
"Aunt Alicia, what's going on?" Harry came down stairs and asked innocently.  
  
"Harry," Lily said smiling.  
  
"I'm sorry , but my name's not Harry; it's Henry?"  
  
"Yes, it is son," Celeste answered assuringly.  
  
"What do you mean, Aunt Alicia?"  
  
"Okay ,Henry, do you remember how I said that we were different; because, of our special abilities? Well, it gets deeper. Harry is your birth name given to you by your mother who now stands before you. You see you're no ordinary wizard. you're special. An evilwizard whose name I never knew; because, my husband kept me housebound, and I asociated with so few wizards, wanted to kill you, and your parents tried to protect you by hiding their house with a magic spell. To do this, they needed a person to keep their location a secret. Unfortunately, they chose my husband Peter Pettigrew. One day, to your good fortune, I overheard him talking to a strange man about having betrayed your parents, so I thought to tell your parents to set a trap for Peter, but that wouldn't have worked, so I changed into a sparrow and came to your house to abduct you so that you'd be safe from the man. I also left them a note telling them what had happened and to get themselves away. I left the country, and I changed our names. At the time I'd been carrying Annabelle. So I decided to raise you two together instead of sending you into foster care as I had originally planned to do. I always sent notes to your parents to let them know that I'd kept you safe, but I didn't count on your mother falling apart like she did. Believe me, Lily I never meant to hurt you or James, but what else could I do?" Celeste explained.  
  
"I don't know, but you could have at least made a better effort of trying to keep the communication line open with us"Lily stated.  
  
"How could I with you two being watched so closely?"  
  
Lily thought Celeste's position over repeatedly in her mind. She knew that Celeste had kept them alive. She knew that war was difficult. She also knew that someone could have found Celeste out had she communicated anymore closely with them than she did. Deep down inside, she knew that she should be thanking Celeste instead of codemning her. Celeste was the reason that she , James, and Harry were sitting here together, and no matter how twisted her actions were, she only acted out of their best interest.


End file.
